System and method of customizing a weapon in the online first person shooter game

ABSTRACT

Provided is a system for customizing a weapon in the online first person shooter game provided by a provider in which a plurality of users participate through computer terminals of the users connected through Internet and the plurality of the users form teams to compete, the system including: a game content providing server for providing the online first person shooter game contents to the computer terminals through the Internet network; and a weapon customization server for generating a gun from among a plurality of guns in a computer terminal in order to perform a mission of the game, determining whether or not the gun is customizable according to a gun customization request from the computer terminal, and performing the gun customization by mounting custom parts selected by the computer terminal on the gun when the gun is customizable according to a result of the determination.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a system for providing online gameservices, and more particularly, to a system and method for customizinga weapon in the online first person shooter game.

BACKGROUND ART

Cultural industries including movies, cartoons, games and the likes aredrawing public attention as main industries in the 21st century.Particularly, the game industry is a high value-added most sophisticatedknowledge-based complex industry and will be developed as the centerindustry in the 21st century cultural and tourism industry generation.

The mainstream of current game genres is network games using Internet.Since in a game in which a solo user competes with a personal computer(PC), a limited number of reactions of the PC to the user's selectionoccur, in a predetermined time, a user can predict the reactions of thePC, so that a life span of the game is relatively short. On the otherhand, in an online game in which different users compete with each otherthrough a network, an infinite number of reactions to actions ofopposing sides occur according to game operational characteristics ofthe users who participate in the game, so that the game users can enjoyin various ways. Accordingly, most games have been developed asmultiplayer games using networks, and this can be achieved byconstructions of high speed networks through PC rooms, cyber apartments,personal Internet lines and significant developments of PCs.

Game scenarios include scenarios for games performed according topredetermined rules by gamers as board games and scenarios for roleplaying games in which gamers act their roles by using their charactersin predetermined time and space such as in novels or dramas to growabilities of the characters to make stories.

In addition, there are first person shooter (FPS) games as shootinggames performed from viewpoints of characters. In the FPS games, varioustypes of weapons and limited numbers of bullets are used in aiming andfiring operations. Current FPS genres are introduced in early 1990s, andfrom then on, computers having performance to show basic 3D graphic inreal time have been introduced.

Newly released FPS games provide interactions with background objects inorder to show more realistic battle scenes and support various functionsto enable the users to feel hitting power in various ways.

In addition, real guns are applied to guns used in the games, andprofiles of the guns are applied in the games, so that very realisticgames have become implemented. Various kinds of guns used in the FPSgames may be purchased or exchanged with points acquired in the game bythe users.

In addition, in real world, guns may be remodeled or customized, orauxiliary devices (for examples, scopes or mounts) are added to the gunsto improve performance of the guns.

Therefore, methods of remodeling or customizing guns used in the realworld are required to be applied in the FPS games.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

Accordingly, it's an object of the present invention to provide a systemand method of customizing a weapon in the online first person shootergame capable of improving performance of a gun by mounting custom partson the gun in the online first person shooter game.

It's also an object of the present invention to provide a system andmethod of customizing a weapon in the online first person shooter gamecapable of improving performance of a gun on which custom parts cannotbe directly attached, by mounting custom parts on the gun by using arail interface system in the online first person shooter game.

Technical Solution

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided asystem for customizing a weapon in the online first person shooter gameprovided by a provider in which a plurality of users participate throughcomputer terminals of the users connected through Internet and theplurality of the users form teams to compete, the system including: agame content providing server for providing the online first personshooter game contents to the computer terminals through the Internetnetwork; and a weapon customization server for generating a gun fromamong a plurality of guns in a computer terminal in order to perform amission of the game, determining whether or not the gun is customizableaccording to a gun customization request from the computer terminal, andperforming the gun customization by mounting custom parts selected bythe computer terminal on the gun when the gun is customizable accordingto a result of the determination.

In the above aspect of the present invention, when the gun iscustomized, predetermined money may be deducted from cyber money of auser of the computer terminal.

In addition, when the gun requested to be customized is a gun which isone of guns that are not customizable but can be attached with a railinterface system (RIS) according to the result of the determination, thesystem may mount the custom parts on the gun after performing the RIScustomization, to perform the gun customization.

In addition, when the RIS customization is performed, predeterminedmoney may be deducted from cyber money of a user of the computerterminal.

In addition, the gun that can be attached with the RIS may be G36 orMP5K-PDW.

In addition, the weapon customization server may include: a weapongeneration unit for generating information on guns for the computerterminals at the beginning of a game mission; and a weapon customizationunit for customizing the gun generated by the weapon generation unitaccording to a request from the computer terminal in the game.

In addition, the weapon customization server may further include apurchase processing unit for deducting predetermined money from cybermoney of the user of the computer terminal as the weapon customizationis performed.

In addition, the weapon customization unit may include: a customizationdetermination unit for determining whether or not the gun iscustomizable using information stored in a weapon information databasewhen the computer terminal requests customization of the gun; a custompart attaching unit for mounting custom parts selected by the computerterminal on the gun; and an RIS customization unit for performing RIScustomization on the gun on which custom parts cannot be directlymounted but the RIS can be mounted, according to the determination ofthe customization determination unit.

In addition, the custom parts may be mounted on one or more selectedfrom among a front, a mount, a barrel, a trigger, a grip, and a stock.

In addition, the RIS may be mounted on a mount portion or a frontportion of the gun.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of customizing a weapon in the online first person shooter gameprovided by a provider in which a plurality of users participate throughcomputer terminals of the users connected through Internet and theplurality of the users form teams to compete, the method including stepsof: logging in a game server of a provide by a user and entering acorresponding mission in the online first person shooter game;generating a gun from among a plurality of guns for each user in themission of the game; determining whether or not the gun is customizableaccording to a gun customization request from the user; and performingthe gun customization by mounting custom parts selected by the user onthe gun when the gun is customizable according to a result of thedetermination.

In the above aspect of the present invention, the method may furtherinclude steps of: when the gun requested to be customized is notcustomizable according to the result of the determination, determiningwhether or not the gun can be attached with an RIS; when the gun isdetermined to be attached with the RIS according to a result of thedetermination, performing RIS customization on the gun; and customizingthe gun by mounting custom parts selected by the user on the gun.

The information on the method of customizing a weapon in the onlinefirst person shooter game can also be embodied as computer readablecodes on a computer readable recording medium. The computer readablerecording medium is any data storage device that can store data whichcan be thereafter read by a computer system. Examples of the computerreadable recording medium include read-only memory (ROM), random-accessmemory (RAM), CD-ROMs, Digital Video Disk (DVD)-ROM, magnetic tapes,floppy disks, optical data storage devices, and carrier waves (such asdata transmission through the Internet). The computer readable recordingmedium can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems sothat the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributedfashion.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS

Accordingly, practical customization on guns is applied to the onlinefirst person shooter game, so that the game becomes more similar to thepractical situation, and game users can enjoy the game greatly.

In addition, according to the present invention, a method of customizingguns by mounting rail interfaces on the guns that are not directlycustomizable is applied to the online first person shooter game, so thatthe game becomes similar to the practical situation. Therefore, gameusers can enjoy greatly.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a system for customizing a weapon in theonline first person shooter game according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a detailed construction of a weaponcustomization server according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating a data field of a subscriber informationdatabase according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating data fields of a weapon informationdatabase according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of operations of weapon customization in theonline first person shooter game according to the embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating a gun that is not customizable.

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating the gun of FIG. 6 which is customized byusing a rail interface system (RIS) according to the embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 8 is a view illustrating the customized gun on which custom partsare attached by using the RIS according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

MODE FOR INVENTION

The present invention provides a method capable of improving performanceof a gun by attaching custom parts to the gun in the online first personshooter game.

Here, in a case where custom parts cannot be directly attached to aparticular gun, as in the practical gun, a method of mounting a railinterface system (hereinafter, referred to as RIS) so that the customparts can be attached is provided.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description,the detailed descriptions of well-known functions and structures may beomitted so as not to hinder the understanding of the present invention.

Now, a system for customizing a weapon in the online first personshooter game according to the present invention and units in the systemare described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating the system for customizing a weapon in theonline first person shooter game according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the system for customizing a weapon in the onlinefirst person shooter game according to the present invention includes anonline game provider server 100, an Internet network 110, and aplurality of client terminals 120. The online game provider server 100includes a game content providing server 101 and a weapon customizationserver 102.

A plurality of users of the corresponding client terminals 120 accessthe online game provider server 100, particularly, the game contentproviding server 101, through the Internet network 110 to execute theprovided online game in the terminals.

Here, as described above, the online game provided from the game contentproviding server 101 is a first person shooter (FPS) game and uses teamplay where a plurality of users form teams to compete. In addition, thegame content providing server 101 provides various missions or maps tobe selected and used in the game. Besides, in the game content providingserver 101, states and records of users in the game are managed, and inorder for the users to play the game provided from the game contentproviding server 101, the system may be implemented so that the usersregister as subscribers and log in.

Specifically, the FPS game may include various missions and maps and maybe implemented so that a plurality of clients participate as charactersin a mission and corporate. Therefore, in the game content providingserver 101, various interfaces for providing online access environmentsto the clients and various devices for providing missions and maps asthe game is played, may be provided.

Here, each client 120 uses one or more weapons in the FPS game and isprovided with a primary gun. In addition, the client 120 may purchase anew gun using points (money) acquired in the game progress or obtainedby paying money or customize the gun to improve performance of the gun.

Therefore, weapon customization performed by the clients 120 in theonline game progress provided from the online game provider server 100through the game content providing server 101 is managed by the weaponcustomization server 102.

The weapon customization server 102 is a device for customizing gunsaccording to characteristics of the guns to improve performances thereofaccording to the present invention and included in the online gameprovider server 100. Practically, the weapon customization server 102 isimplemented as a program in online game software implemented by theprovider. Here, the weapon customization server 102 may be separated orincluded in the game content providing server 101. Specifically, whengame contents are produced as a program, program codes for generatingand managing the identification markers are included therein.

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a detailed construction of the weaponcustomization server according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the weapon customization server 102 according to anembodiment of the present invention includes a function execution module200 including a weapon generation unit 210, a weapon customization unit220, and a purchase processing unit 230 and databases including asubscriber information database 240, a weapon information database 250,and a money information database 260.

The weapon generation unit 210 generates information on guns of a user(that is, a character) at the beginning of a game mission. Here, inorder for the user to play the game, the user may register as asubscriber and log in to play the game, and login information on eachsubscriber may be stored in the subscriber information database 240. Toa game subscriber that initially registers, the same gun may beprimarily provided. In the game progress, the game subscriber maypurchase a new gun. In addition, when weapon customization is performedon the gun according to the present invention, the customized gun may becontinuously maintained to belong to the subscriber.

The weapon customization unit 220 performs a function of customizing theweapon (that is, the gun) generated by the weapon generation unit 200according to user's requests in the game progress. The weaponcustomization unit 220 may include a customization determination unit221, a custom part attaching unit 222, and an RIS customization unit223.

When the corresponding game subscriber requests weapon customization,the customization determination unit 221 determines whether or not thecorresponding gun is customizable by using information stored in theweapon information database 250. The following <Table 1> shows anexample of customizable characteristics of guns provided in the game andmay be information stored in the weapon information database 250.

TABLE 1 customizable characteristics guns guns without custom partsG3A3, AK47, MP5A3, M24, G36, MP5K-PDW guns on which custom parts M16A2,Bizon PP-19, Uzi (barrels, triggers, grips, stocks) excluding fronts andscope rails can be mounted guns on which four types of Galil Sniper,SV98, custom parts (barrels, triggers, MSG90A1 grips, stocks) excludingscopes can be mounted guns on which all types of G36 Rail, MP5K-PDW Railcustom parts including fronts and scopes can be mounted

Specifically, the customization determination unit 221 determines andinforms whether or not a gun is customizable according to the <Table 1>when a user having the gum requests the gun customization. Here, thecustomizable characteristics of a gun may be displayed on each gun whenthe corresponding user enters a shop for gun purchase or customization.

Referring to <Table 1>, guns are classified into guns on which customparts cannot be mounted and guns on which custom parts can be partiallymounted. Here, after RIS customization is performed on guns on which thecustom parts cannot be mounted according to an embodiment of the presentinvention, the custom parts can be mounted on the guns.

For example, the G36 and MP5K-PDW have structures on which custom partscannot be mounted. However, after performing the RIS customizationaccording to an embodiment of the present invention, various types ofcustom parts can be mounted on the guns. Similar to practicalimplementation in which RIS customization is needed to mount customparts on guns, the aforementioned customization is applied.

On the other hand, in a case where guns that are not customizable areimplemented so that custom parts can be mounted on the guns without RIScustomization, shapes of the guns become unnatural, and since the casecannot be implemented in practical gun customization methods, realismdecreases.

Accordingly, when it is determined by the customization determinationunit 221 that a gun is customizable, a corresponding custom part isattached to the custom part attaching unit 222 according to the user'sselection. Here, to attach the custom part, predetermined points (orgame money) may be deducted. Purchasing the gun is processed by thepurchase processing unit 230. The purchase processing unit 230 checkspoints (or game money) of the corresponding user using the moneyinformation database 260, and only when the points are enough topurchase or customize the weapon, the weapon customization or the gunpurchase is performed.

As described above, for the weapons on which the custom parts cannot bedirectly mounted, the user may perform RIS customization according to anembodiment of the present invention. The RIS customization operation isperformed by the RIS customization unit 223, and as a result of the RIScustomization operation, a rail interface is mounted on a front portionor an upper portion of the gun. In addition, the RIS customization alsopreferably requires predetermined points (or game money).

As described above, after the RIS customization is performed, customparts can be mounted to the gun that was not customizable through therail interface. Accordingly, the customization determination unit 221determines the gun on which the RIS customization is performed as thecustomizable gun, and corresponding custom parts selected by the userare attached to the custom part attaching unit 222.

Now, the databases required for weapon customization according to thepresent invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating a data field of the subscriber informationdatabase according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the subscriber information database 240 accordingto an embodiment of the present invention may include data fields suchas identifications (IDs) information 301, passwords information 302,play histories information 303, arms information 304, possessed weaponsinformation 305, and the like.

The IDs information 301 and passwords information 302 are informationfor subscriber authentication, and the play histories information 303 isinformation including the number of game plays and experience of eachsubscriber. In addition, the arms information 304 means arms in the gameselected by each user, and a different gun may be provided according toselected arms. The possessed weapons information 305 stores informationon guns that are primarily provided in the game progress to thesubscribers or guns that are purchased or customized by the user.

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating data fields of the weapon informationdatabase according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the weapon information database 250 according to anembodiment of the present invention may include data fields such asweapon names 401, costs 402, custom parts 403, and RIS customization404.

The weapon names 401 are names of weapons, and costs 402 are informationon points (or game money) required to purchase corresponding weapons. Inaddition, the custom parts 403 are information indicating types of thecustom parts that can be mounted on corresponding guns. The RIScustomization 404 is information including whether or not RIScustomization is performed on guns on which the custom parts cannot bedirectly mounted.

Therefore, whether or not custom parts can be mounted to guns isdetermined for each gun, and even on guns on which custom parts cannotbe mounted but RIS customization can be performed according to theembodiment of the present invention, after the RIS customization, customparts can be attached.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of operations of weapon customization in theonline first person shooting game according to the embodiment of thepresent invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, first, when a subscriber accesses and logs in thegame server of the provider, and the subscriber enters a correspondingmission in the online first person shooter game (that is, FPS game), thesubscriber selects a map to play. As described above, when the game isstarted (S501), each character selects an arm and is provided (S502)with a primary weapon (that is, a gun, etc.).

In the game progress (S503), when the user wants to purchase a newweapon or customize the gun the character possesses (S504), the userenters a character shop (S505). Guns are displayed in the charactershop, and customization (including RIS customization) of the guns andcosts of the guns are displayed.

When the corresponding user wants to purchase a weapon (S506) and hasenough points (or game money), purchase processing (S507) of theselected weapon is performed.

In addition, when the user wants to customize a weapon (S508) accordingto the present invention, it is determined whether or not the weapon iscustomizable (S509). According to a result of the determination, whenthe weapon is customizable, customization processing (S510) on eachselected item (for example, a front, a mount, a barrel, a trigger, agrip, a stock, and the like) is performed, and customization costs arededucted from the points (or game money) of the corresponding user(operation S511).

On the other hand, according to the result of the determination, whenthe weapon is not customizable, it is determined whether or not RIScustomization can be performed (S512) according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. According to a result of the determination, on guns(for example, G36 or MP5K-PDW) on which RIS customization can beperformed, the RIS customization operation (S513) is performed, andcustomization costs are deducted.

After the RIS customization is performed, even on the guns on whichcustom parts cannot be mounted, custom parts can be mounted by using theRIS, so that the custom parts can be mounted through weaponcustomization (S508).

Hereinafter, examples in which weapon customization is implemented onguns that are not customizable through the RIS customization operationare described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8.

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating the G36 as an example of the guns that arenot customizable. Referring to FIG. 6, on the G36 600 having a basicshape, custom parts cannot be mounted. However, as illustrated in FIG.7, RISs 710 and 720 are mounted on a mount (an upper portion) and afront (a front portion) of the gun according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. Therefore, custom parts such as a dot sight 810 or alaser sight 820 may be mounted as illustrated in FIG. 8. Examples oftypes of the custom parts that can be mounted on the guns to customizethe guns include fronts, mounts, barrels, triggers, grips, stocks, andthe like.

-   -   Front: an external device such as a laser sight is mounted to a        front portion of a gun.    -   Mount: an optical device such as a dot or scope is mounted on an        upper portion of a gun.    -   Barrel: weapon performance can be improved by changing a        diameter of a bullet, an internal steel wire, or a length.    -   Trigger: weapon performance can be changed by changing pressure        of a trigger or a mechanism connected to a construction of a        gun.    -   Grip: a grip is remodeled by changing the center of the gravity        or a texture of a gun to change the feeling of gripping the gun.    -   Stock: a stock is settled on a shoulder to absorb impacts at the        firing, or a portion connected to a mechanism at the firing is        remodeled to improve performance of a gun.

Now, examples in which operations of customizing guns are practicallyimplemented in the game according to the present invention aredescribed.

A character can enter a character shop to purchase or customize a gunaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. When the characterenters the shop to purchase or customize the gun, a list of possessedguns of the corresponding user is displayed at a lower left side. Here,whether or not a possessed gun is customizable is displayed. Forexample, since custom parts cannot be directly mounted to the gun G36,no custom parts are displayed for the gun G36. However, the RIScustomization can be performed on the gun according to an embodiment ofthe present invention, RIS customization allowed is displayed.

Here, when the user selects the RIS customization on the gun,predetermined money is deducted, and RIS customization is performed.After the RIS customization is performed as described above, customparts that can be mounted are displayed and can be attached according tothe user's selection.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and describedwith reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understoodby those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details maybe made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent invention as defined by the appended claims.

1. A system for customizing a weapon in the online first person shootergame provided by a provider in which a plurality of users participatethrough computer terminals of the users connected through Internet andthe plurality of the users form teams to compete, the system comprising:a game content providing server for providing the online first personshooter game contents to the computer terminals through the Internetnetwork; and a weapon customization server for generating a gun fromamong a plurality of guns in a computer terminal in order to perform amission of the game, determining whether or not the gun is customizableaccording to a gun customization request from the computer terminal,performing the gun customization by mounting custom parts selected bythe computer terminal on the gun when the gun is customizable accordingto a result of the determination, and when the gun requested to becustomized is a gun which is one of guns that are not customizable butcan be attached with an RIS (rail interface system) according to theresult of the determination, after performing the RIS customization,mounting the custom parts on the gun, to perform gun customization. 2.The system of claim 1, wherein, when the gun is customized,predetermined money is deducted from cyber money of the user of thecomputer terminal.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein, when the RIScustomization is performed, predetermined money is deducted from cybermoney of the user of the computer terminal.
 4. The system of claim 1,wherein the gun that can be attached with the RIS is G36.
 5. The systemof claim 1, wherein the gun which can be attached with the RIS isMP5K-PDW.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the weapon customizationserver comprises: a weapon generation unit for generating information onguns for the computer terminals at the beginning of a game mission; anda weapon customization unit for customizing the gun generated by theweapon generation unit according to a request from the computer terminalin the game.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the weapon customizationserver further comprises a purchase processing unit for deductingpredetermined money from cyber money of the user of the computerterminal as the weapon customization is performed.
 8. The system ofclaim 6, wherein the weapon customization unit comprises: acustomization determination unit for determining whether or not the gunis customizable using information stored in a weapon informationdatabase when the computer terminal requests customization of the gun; acustom part attaching unit for mounting custom parts selected by thecomputer terminal on the gun; and an RIS customization unit forperforming RIS customization on the gun on which custom parts cannot bedirectly mounted but the RIS can be mounted, according to thedetermination of the customization determination unit.
 9. The system ofclaim 8, wherein the RIS is mounted on a mount portion of the gun. 10.The system of claim 8, wherein the RIS is mounted on a front portion ofthe gun.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein the custom parts are mountedon one or more selected from among a front, a mount, a barrel, atrigger, a grip, and a stock.
 12. A method of customizing a weapon inthe online first person shooter game, performed in a game server of aprovider to which computer terminals of a plurality of users areconnected through the Internet, the method comprising steps of:generating a gun from among a plurality of guns in a computer terminalto perform a mission of the game; determining whether or not the gun iscustomizable according to a gun customization request from the computerterminal; performing the gun customization by mounting custom partsselected by the computer terminal on the gun when the gun iscustomizable according to a result of the determination; determiningwhether or not the gun can be attached with an RIS by the game serverwhen the gun requested to be customized is not customizable according tothe result of the determination; performing RIS customization on the gunwhen the gun is determined to be attached with the RIS according to aresult of the determination; and customizing the gun by mounting customparts selected by the computer terminal on the gun.
 13. The method ofclaim 12, further comprising a step of deducting predetermined moneyfrom cyber money of the user of the computer terminal after the step ofperforming the gun customization.
 14. The method of claim 12, wherein,when the RIS customization is performed, predetermined money is deductedfrom cyber money of the user of the computer terminal.
 15. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the gun that can be attached with the RIS is G36. 16.The method of claim 12, wherein the gun that can be attached with theRIS is MP5K-PDW.
 17. The method of claim 12, wherein the RIS is mountedon a mount portion of the gun.
 18. The method of claim 12, wherein theRIS is mounted on a front portion of the gun.
 19. The method of claim12, wherein the custom parts is mounted on one or more selected fromamong a front, a mount, a barrel, a trigger, a grip, and a stock.